Scuderia SouthWest Cars and Coffee- August 2017

This month's Scuderia SouthWest Motorsports gathering had a German car theme, and boy were they out in force. Porsches, Mercedes, Audis, and BMWs covered the theme row as well as the rest of the parking lot, showing the best Germany had to offer, ranging from modern day exotics to priceless classics. 

The ASU FSAE team also brought our Formula car out to display. This is the first show SDM17 has been to, and it certainly won't be the last. Since we're an American university, we parked in the American car rows, and we even got a spot next to Bondurant, one of our sponsors who let us use their autocross track for testing. It was a pretty good day; we drew quite a few crowds and talked with a lot of people. We even recruited some new members to the team that day; it's no surprise a lot of ASU students come to these shows. 

Of course, my GT-R friends came out to the show and got their usual spots, which are coveted because they're one of the few spots in the area with shade. There was also a strong JDM showing as well, although on the other side of the parking lot. It was cool meeting some people in person finally after following them on Facebook and Instagram, as well as meeting with the usual Cars and Coffee peeps. 

And of course, there were exotics. Scottsdale McLaren brought out quite a few cars, and some privately owned McLarens came and joined them to form quite the row. There were also some surprises as well, including the 50th Anniversary Aventador and a Liberty Walk Huracan. 

Despite the heat, it was a good show. A lot of cars and people came out, and it's only going to get larger from here as vacationers come back to the Valley and the temperatures cool down.

Cars and Coffee- July 2017

July 4th is America's Independence Day, and to celebrate that Scuderia Southwest made this month's Cars and Coffee American themed. More specifically, it was themed so that cars would park in a red-white-blue color to match the order of colors on the America flag. Plus, to add more detail to it, SSW wanted to have a diverse range of American cars and asked for different years of the same makes to line up for photos. It definitely paid off as the show-row was spectacular looking.

In addition, Lexus' corporate branch brought out the LC500 for people to test drive. Of course I signed up to test drive one, and I have to say the car is amazingly balanced. The 50/50 weight distribution really shows since it felt incredibly planted and stable when turning. And while I always thought it was a little down on power for the price/class, it certainly moved well.

Of course, Scottsdale McLaren came by to spoil us with a brand new 720S. I really did not like how it looked in the initial photos (mainly the front area due to the headlights), but it did begin warming up to me in person. It's definitely a car to look at in real life rather than photos to full appreciate the design. 

Despite the 'Murican theme, there were of course the usual European luxury, super, and classic cars. Again, I've been experimenting with compositions and different angles to change up my photography a little. I'm still a sucker for sunrise-lens-flare-exposures though, as you can see here. Honestly the AMG GTS looked like a shot out of GT Sport.

It was also interesting seeing a Ferrari FF and a Ferrari GT4 Lusso parked next to each other. Side-by-side you can really see the differences between the old and the new. Like every new Ferrari for me, it took seeing the GT4 Lusso in person for me to like how it looks (although I did see it in Monterey last year, so I've had time to warm up to it). The new grin is a different beast compared to the FF.

And, of course, there was a Japanese presence. Godzillas made their usual appearance, as well as some very nice looking NSXes. There was also an immaculate Supra present. 

However, it was extremely hot, and there is now another Cars and Coffee in Chandler at the same day and time. Thus, turnout wasn't as large as it had been. Whether or not this will change next week for August is to be determined. But, as usual, I look forward to seeing what shows up.

Absence, updates, and future

Hello friends and visitors,

You'll notice that again, I have disappeared from my website for a long period of time. I know it's becoming my go-to excuse, but it still remains true that balancing photography with life is difficult when life entails being a full-time mechanical engineering student that is also heavily involved in Formula SAE, finding a job/internship, and other campus activities. This is going to get much busier, too, since I will be starting my honors thesis next semester in addition to taking more difficult classes. How to balance this with photography? I honestly don't know. I do know that I wish to start shoots again, both portrait and automotive, because, even if they take a large amount of time, they're still fun and I do enjoy them. 

If you're here from my Instagram page, you'll see that I'm much more active there, simply because it's easier to upload a photo, add one of my several standard list of hashtags, and call it a day. But I know an Instagram page isn't serious enough for the work that I want to do.

As the new semester approaches, I've already made several internal commitments to activities that dropped out of my life in addition to photography. While I wish to commit more to updating this website, I fear again I will put it on the back burner. 

Alas, all I can really say is let's see what happens. Hopefully I will commit again to updating this website. I've been considering making it more of a personal website, too, where I can upload photography-related randomness since club and personal activities take up more and more photography time. Regardless, here is a selection of some of my favorite photos I have taken since my last post and now. You'll notice that many of these are now in my portfolio pages, as I have started to update them. There's a lot of work to be done here, and hopefully I will follow through.

Cars and Coffee February 2017- Early Pictures

This month's Cars and Coffee brought quite a few gems out for show. Some local favorites showed up like Taylor's Liberty Walk and Nismo GT-Rs and Haugen Racing's 351JZ. There were two 911Rs and a 300SL present, plus even a RUF! Scottsdale McLaren brought out a BAC Mono and a tribute 675LT out for show. Will pictures be up? We'll see, no promises, but I have these done now. All in all, it was good times and close to the end of an era, as the show is set to move to a new, larger location in April. I can't wait to see what it brings.